We're Going Home

4

Hey,

It's Lance again. I don't know how I feel. It was easier being crazy. Being sane? Being sane is so much worse. And the way Keith looks at me... It's not right.

I can't sleep. I can't blink. I can't close my eyes for a moment because the dark creeps in again.

Sometimes I'll find myself dozing off then I'll wake up screaming. I can't remember what it's like to breathe without this horrible weight on my lungs.

Lance didn't talk to anyone for a solid week. No conversation at all. He didn't even come to lunch, he just sat in his room with just the lamp on.

Lover, Please Stay ~Nothing But Thieves
When he finally did show his face, it was at 2 am with two quiet knocks on the door and a pile of blankets, pillows, and clothes.

Keith opened the door, rubbing his eyes. He seemed confused. "Lance?" He whispered.

Lance nodded. "Let me in, the guards will be coming by soon." His voice was hushed and urgent.

Kieth nodded and slowly let him into his room. Luckily, for some reason, the asylum didn't have cameras in the room. Instead, it had roommates, and Keith's was Matt.

"What are you doing in here at 2 am?" He groaned. Of course, Keith was excited to see him finally, but at 2 am? Well, there were times that he would've been more excited about seeing Lance.

"I brought you clothes." He handed them to him. "So you don't have to wear paper... at nights. Or around the room. I trust you to stay alive now."

"Why?" Keith asked gently, taking the clothes from him.

"Because I've noticed that you're too busy making me feel better that you can't because there's so much left to do." Then, for a moment, just for a moment, he got that old sparkle back. "Right, Mullet?"

A smile slowly bloomed on Keith's face. He never thought he'd miss that nickname. "Then what are the blanket and pillow for?"

"I haven't been able to sleep for a while because I don't have a roommate. And I'm scared to be alone in the dark again." His eyes were glued to the ground as if he was embarrassed to say this.

Keith's smile grew. "So you came to me?" He felt honoured. No, more than honoured. He felt like living again. It was amazing what an eighteen-year-old boy with a blanket and a pillow creeping into your room in the middle of the night could do for you.

Lance laid his things on the ground then followed them down, his back pressed against the hard linoleum staring at the ceiling.

He inhaled deeply and turned on his side. After a few moments he was snoring, and Keith was watching his eyelids flutter in his sleep. He was peaceful, if not loud. And he could see Lance healing, slowly. He could see the sleep washing over Lance and making him new, making him like a child. Right now, in fetal position, snoring and drooling onto his pillow on the floor, it was almost like before. It was almost like he'd never been broken.

Kieth watched him as he slept, making sure that the demons didn't have a chance at crawling back in because he made an oath to fight them off.

And when they did start to return, in the form of whimpering and near screaming, Keith was on the floor, hands rubbing soothing circles on his back and telling him that it would be okay. That he wasn't alone, that he wouldn't be again. Because he made a promise to himself, to fix him. And if that took the rest of his life, he'd still be there.